This is the “hellish” house where twin toddlers were imprisoned and starved by their cruel “Throuble” parents – leaving a young boy on the brink of death.
Pictures obtained exclusively by show the filthy, faeces-strewn bedroom where the two-year-olds were cooped up for days and fed only minced meat and Cheerios pushed under the door to them.
Their heartbreaking plight was made clear Monday when one of the brothers was rushed to a hospital in Jackson County, West Virginia, with kidney failure.
According to police, the youth had not drunk anything for days and had passed out because he was so severely dehydrated and malnourished.
Parents Lylee and Michael Gillenwater are in custody after police found one of their twins at the “death door” after months of abuse, authorities said
This is the “Hell House” in Ripley, West Virginia, where twin toddlers were imprisoned and starved by their cruel “Throuble” parents
The boys’ room, measuring 6 by 8 feet, was dark and dingy with blackout curtains blocking the window, images from show
The bedroom door has a white plastic lock on the outside so it cannot be opened from the inside
“The room appeared to have just two small crib-style mattresses on the floor, completely soiled with urine and feces,” the complaint reads
The exclusive images from show a child-size mattress, several plastic trays and a dozen or more dirty nappies lying on the floor
Cheerios, a diaper and a stuffed animal were seen on the floor in the Rolling Meadow Village apartment
The basement of the house was full of toys, debris, clothes and a mattress
The basement was occupied by Lylee and her lover Brian Casto, who moved into the home, which is part of a low-income housing project, about a month ago. A litter box and toys can be seen in the basement
Terrifying coincidence: “Hell’s home” was the scene of a little girl’s murder in 2016
The Gillenwaters and twisted “roommate” Brian Casto are facing stiffer prison terms for an unrelated murder committed seven years earlier in the same house.
Emmaleigh Elizabeth Barringer
The trio are accused of confining and neglecting twins at their shared home address on Meadowlark Lane in Ripley, West Virginia.
A boy is still fighting for his life after suffering kidney failure.
Benjamin Taylor
By a gruesome coincidence, has learned that a council housing project’s three-bed duplex was also the scene of the unrelated murder of a little girl in 2016.
Benjamin Taylor, 38, is serving a life sentence without parole for the beating and sexual abuse of ten-month-old Emmaleigh Elizabeth Barringer there in October 2016.
Her mother, Amanda Adkins, went into the basement and found Taylor kneeling over the unconscious girl with her shirt off and pants unbuttoned.
Amanda Adkins
He claimed he “passed out” and couldn’t remember what happened, but it took the jury just two hours to find Taylor guilty.
The horrific murder prompted the West Virginia legislature to pass the “Emmaleigh Act” in 2017, increasing the sentence for a person convicted of child molestation resulting in death from 10 years to 40 to 15 to life.
If the twin boy fighting for his life in the Gillenwater case loses his fight, the law would apply directly to his alleged tormentors.
Michael Gillenwater, 24, and his wife Lylee Gillenwater, 21, have been arrested and charged with child neglect, along with 22-year-old Brian Casto – friend described in court documents as Lylee’s “roommate”.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Department investigators say the accused trio drugged the children to get them to sleep because being parents was too much of a burden.
“The average farm animal would likely provide better parental care and nurturing than these children,” Sheriff Ross Mellinger said in announcing the charges.
He added, “These boys need a lot of prayers right now.” One boy is stable. There are still many hurdles to be overcome medically to see if he will even survive or not.”
By a gruesome coincidence, is able to reveal that the three-bed semi-detached house in Ripley, 30 minutes north of Charleston, was also the scene of the unrelated murder of a little girl in 2016.
Benjamin Taylor, 38, is serving a life sentence without parole for punching and sexually abusing ten-month-old Emmaleigh Elizabeth Barringer in October 2016.
Her mother, Amanda Adkins, went into the basement and found Taylor kneeling over the unconscious girl with her shirt off and pants unbuttoned.
He claimed he “passed out” and couldn’t remember what happened, but it took the jury just two hours to find Taylor guilty at his 2019 trial.
The same basement was recently occupied by current tenant Lylee Gillenwater and her lover Brian Casto, who moved into the house, which is part of a low-income housing project, about a month ago.
Previously, according to pictures and posts on social media, the Gillenwaters came across as a committed, loving couple.
They married in October 2021 and Michael, a US Postal Service worker and former Marine, uploaded several photos of their two adorable twins to Facebook.
But when Casto arrived at the scene, he and Lylee moved downstairs to the cluttered, laundry-strewn basement while Michael stayed on the top floor of the house, police officers say.
The twins – referred to in court records as DG and ZG – occupied one of two bedrooms on the middle floor, while their unnamed older sister lived in the other.
The boys’ storage room, measuring 1.80 by 2.40 metres, was dark and dingy because blackout curtains blocked the window, images from show.
Our exclusive images feature two child-sized mattresses, several plastic trays, a stuffed animal, and a dozen or more dirty diapers lying on the floor.
Cheerios can be seen scattered near the bedroom door, which has a white plastic lock on it so it cannot be opened from the inside.
“You couldn’t tell from the street that anything was going on. But my son is autistic, he’s really smart and he was staring at the twins’ bedroom window. “I think he wanted to tell us something,” a neighbor told .
“Michael was really weird, really controlling. Lylee always stayed in the house and never came out. Brian rejoined us after about a month. I hope they are beaten, raped or worse in prison – they deserve it.”
A young mother living nearby, who gave her first name Tasha, added, “The parents are animals.” I haven’t seen these kids once in two years.
“First the little girl, and then this — there’s definitely something wrong with this apartment.” This place scares me.”
Lylee Gillenwater, 21, has three children with her husband Michael. She is pictured in her mug shot. Cops said she drugged her children under the door and fed them ground beef and cereal
Michael Gillenwater, 24, married Lylee in 2021. He is charged with two counts of child neglect causing serious injury or death and child neglect resulting in injuries
Brian Casto, Lylee’s “boyfriend,” is also facing child molestation charges in the case
A criminal complaint seen by said the sheriff’s department received a call from Child Protective Services on Monday saying DG had been taken to Jackson General Hospital and “that the child was severely malnourished and showing signs of kidney failure”.
When officers searched the boy’s home, they found a room described in the indictment as “regrettable”.
“The room appeared to have only two small crib-style mattresses on the floor, which were completely soiled with urine and feces,” the complaint reads.
“The room was so covered in human feces that investigators could not move around the room without stepping on both wet and dry feces.”
“This room had an outside lock on the outside of the door that didn’t allow anyone in the room to leave the room.”
The complaint states that two types of food were discovered in the locked room’s door: “Cheerios and ground beef were lying in the doorway as if the boys pushed the food out of the room.”
Lylee Gillenwater and Casto – “her cohabiting friend and guardian of the children” – were arrested at the home.
“Casto would point out that he has been living at the home for about four weeks and that during that time he has not seen the boys (DG and ZG) outside the bedroom for more than three to five hours on weekends.” The complaint reads.
Judging by the pictures and posts on social media, the Gillenwaters appeared like a committed, loving couple
The sheriff referred to the trio as “animals” and stressed that one of their children still has a long road to recovery
Casto is charged with one count of child abuse causing injury and one count of child molestation causing injury. The trio are all in custody on $150,000 bail before appearing in court next week
Michael Gillenwater faces two counts of child neglect causing serious injury or death and child neglect causing injuries. His wife is accused of child neglect leading to injury and that there is a risk of injury from neglecting children.
Casto is charged with one count of child abuse causing injury and one count of child molestation causing injury. The trio are all in custody on $150,000 bail before appearing in court next week.
Sheriff Mellinger said DG was flown to another facility in Morgantown, where he is stable. His twin brother and older sister were both removed from the home.
“When our officers began their investigation, it was discovered that the two-year-old boys were locked in their room at the apartment in a hell of a situation, where they had been cooped up and neglected by their parents for up to six weeks at a time,” Sheriff added Added Mellinger.
“It was found that the parents self-medicated these children over an extended period of time to get them to sleep so they didn’t have to deal with parental care.”
He added, “It’s just amazing to me that there are still animals like this that are a burden to parent.”